Chapter Thirteen
The minute she got out of bed on Monday morning, Charlie knew it was going to be a bad day. Kristy was extra sluggish and fussy. It took longer than usual for her car to start, and she broke a heel, all before eight o’ clock in the morning. By the time she got into the office, she felt an impending sense of doom.
She was about to go into her cubicle when she saw Sandy approaching. The woman was a plague. This is not how I wanted to start the day, Charlie thought warily, but she pinned a smile on her face. The best defense was a good offense.
“Good morning, Sandy, how are you today?” She didn’t want to hear the answer, but did the polite thing and waited for a response nonetheless.
“Oh, I’m good. I had a wonderful weekend. I stayed with some friends at their beach house. It was gorgeous. My friends have the hugest house on the Jersey Shore I’ve ever seen. I sat by the beach, soaked in the sun and drank mimosas,” Sandy bragged.
“How nice for you.” Charlie didn’t give a damn, but figured those were the appropriate words to say. “Well, I have to get to work now, I hope you have a good Monday.” Charlie took a seat at her desk.
Sandy followed. “What did you do this weekend?”
Didn’t this woman have work to do? Charlie couldn’t remember ever seeing Sandy doing any work, but she did see her quite often running her mouth. “My weekend was nice, thank you for asking.” Charlie didn’t care to elaborate. She knew any grain of information she gave to “The Mouth” would be the topic of conversation by noon.
Sandy’s eyes narrowed. Charlie pretended she didn’t notice Sandy’s venomous look. She refused to play games with this woman, especially one so annoying. Charlie was familiar with her type, a gossipmonger who needed to constantly be in the know, when most things weren’t her business.
Since Charlie began working at MBF, she was aware Sandy had been making inquiries about her, trying to dig up some dirt. She didn’t know what it was the woman got out of gossiping, but it was grating. “Charlie, I know they call me ‘The Mouth’ behind my back, but you can trust me. I wouldn’t dream of telling your little secret.” Sandy gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach her blue eyes.
The other woman was obviously fishing. Charlie had been very careful to keep her private life and work life separate. “And what secret might that be, Sandy?”
The woman pouted in obvious frustration at her failed attempt to get information. “Anything you might want to get off your chest. I’m a good listener.”
“It’s not your listening skills I question, but your lack of discretion. Look, don’t you have some work to do, Sandy? Because if you don’t, I do.” Charlie gave her the stare down hoping it would embarrass Sandy enough to go away, but she should have known better. The Mouth didn’t know the meaning of the word shame.
“I’m just trying to be friendly. There’s no need to play the ice queen with me.”
Charlie’s fingers itched to slap the bitch into next week. Instead of giving in to her urges, she ignored the pesky woman, but Sandy did not seem to want to go away.
“So, Charlie, did you figure out who your secret admirer was?” An assessing gleam twinkled in her eyes.
Charlie paused. “No. I haven’t.” The moment the words left her mouth she realized they’d come out too fast, making her seem guilty.
A sly smile spread across Sandy’s face. “Hmm, how odd. You would think you’d have found out by now. This person must be an awful loser,” Sandy mused.
The only loser around here is you, Charlie wanted to say, but instead she shrugged, showing a nonchalance she didn’t feel. “Perhaps he’s shy, I don’t know, and really it’s not something that’s keeping me up at night. I really have to get some work done and I suggest you do the same.” Charlie’s patience faded.
Sandy didn’t look happy. “Okay, I will talk to you later. Maybe the next time we talk, you’ll have found something out.” Sandy’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Maybe. See you later.”
Charlie was glad to see that creature go. One day, Sandy would get her comeuppance and Charlie was positive a lot of people would cheer because of it.
“Is everything okay, Charlie?” Brian approached her.
“Yes, everything is cool. I guess I just have the Monday morning blues,” she said.
“That’s understandable. Was Sandy giving you problems? I’ve told her a thousand times not to hang out in my department.”
“She doesn’t bother me. I guess it just amazes me she still has a job. Since I’ve been here, all I’ve seen her do is hang out in other people’s cubes and gossip,” Charlie observed.
“She’s cousins with the head of the admin.” She could hear the disgust in his voice. “Personally, I would like nothing more than to see the back of her, but you know how things are.”
She didn’t actually, but then again, this wasn’t her company to run, she only worked for it. “Relative or not, if she’s not getting the job done, why do they keep her on?”
“Habit, I guess. It’s hard to fire people nowadays without the threat of a wrongful dismissal suit, and she would definitely be the type to file one.”
“I guess.” Wanting to change the subject from that horrid woman, she asked, “Did you need to see me for something?”
“Yes. I just wanted remind you that I’m going away tomorrow on that business trip. Is there anything you needed to go over today?”
“Not really, I have everything pretty much under control.”
“Okay, but if you need me for something, come by my office. And chin up, the day can only get better, right?” he said with a smile. Brian really was a darling. His positive outlook on life was always uplifting. Maybe everything would be all right.
If Charlie would have known how far from the truth those words were, she just might have turned around and gone home.
“Jake…Jake? Are you there?” Jennifer’s voice shouting through the intercom shook Jake from his daydream.
“Yes, I’m here, Jen. What’s up?” he asked.
“Your ten o’ clock is here. Shall I send them in?”
“Give me five minutes, Jen.”
“Will do.” She signed off.
Jake closed his eyes to get himself together. He’d been daydreaming about Charlie’s comment on Saturday night. It seemed to him that she was still hung up on her deceased husband after all these years.
When he had noticed Charlie standing off to the side with a dreamy expression in her eyes while everyone else was saying good-bye, he thought she fit in so well with his family. Throughout dinner, he felt his connection with her had grown stronger than ever. Jake had been so sure Charlie was starting to warm toward him, especially when she would shoot him a smile every so often and hold his gaze purposely, as if they had been sharing a secret.
He’d wanted to know what she was thinking as she stood there. He’d wanted to know where her faraway look came from. Jake needed to know if that faint smile on her sexy lips had been due to the fact she enjoyed spending time with his family and especially with him. His heart had been so full of hope it had been a shock when she let slip that she was thinking about her husband. After that incident his night had turned sour.
Charlie was the master of emotional paper cuts. He walked away from her then like a wounded animal. He was in such a foul mood after her admission he could barely speak to her.
As he was leaving her house, he could have sworn he’d seen the look of desire in her eyes when she asked him to stay for coffee, but he convinced himself it was just wishful thinking on his part.
Jake didn’t know how he could continue to fight for Charlie when his love was not being returned. He especially didn’t know how he was going to compete with a ghost. He raked his fingers through his hair and let out a deep breath. How much more could one man take?
“Okay, Jen. You can send them in now.”
“Look, Steve, this has got to stop.” Charlie spoke with a calm she didn’t feel, annoyed at being ambushed yet again by the persistent man. This time he had caught her in the copy room making copies.
“Charlie, you won’t regret going out with me. I will treat you like a queen,” Steve said, taking Charlie’s hands in his.
Charlie wrenched them out of his grip. “This is becoming embarrassing, Steve. How many times do I have to say no before you leave me alone? I’m sure this is embarrassing for you as well. Why do you keep asking me out when I keep saying no?” she asked warily. He really wasn’t a bad guy. She could tell by the way he acted around the office. With the exception of Laura, most people enjoyed working with Steve. If she could only make him see how ridiculous it was for him to continuously ask her out, the better.
“I’m persistent in what I want and I want you,” he said huskily.
“But I don’t want you. Don’t you hear yourself? You sound like a spoiled child,” Charlie snapped, quickly losing her patience.
“You cut me to the quick. I’ll keep asking until you give in. If you were to go out with me for one date, I promise, it’ll be magic,” Steve said smoothly, giving her the smile Charlie was sure he thought many ladies would fall to their knees for. She was tempted to laugh in his face.
The only magic Charlie wanted to see Steve performing was a disappearing act. “Steve, please stop. Take me on my word, and realize, I don’t want to date you. I think you’re a nice guy, but that’s the extent of my feelings for you. We’ll never have anything beyond a working relationship. You’ve asked me out at least a dozen times, and I’ve turned you down a dozen times, but you persist. If you keep asking, the answer won’t change.” Charlie tried to say it as gently as she could. If this joker said one more thing, she was going to let him have it.
“Charlie, you say no, but I know you’ll eventually say yes. They all do in the end.” He smirked arrogantly.
That did it. “Can’t you get it through your thick skull I’m not interested, nor will I ever be interested. As a matter of fact, if you and I were the last people on earth, mankind would end with us,” Charlie lashed out. She wasn’t out to hurt the guy’s feelings but enough was enough. Even she had her limits, and it was time for this office Romeo to get a clue.
Steve paled underneath his deep tan. He looked pissed, Charlie surmised. He probably wasn’t used to rejection. “So I guess it’s true.”
“What’s true?” Charlie asked nonplussed.
“You do prefer Jake. What’s pretty boy got that I don’t?” he demanded.
“What do you know about me and Jake?” Charlie’s heartbeat sped up. Did Jake tell Steve what had happened?
“I have eyes. I know what happened in his office that day I saw you running out with the smell of sex clinging enticingly to your body.” Steve must have realized he’d gone too far because his eyes widened, but the damage had already been done.
Charlie glared at him. “You’re disgusting. Laura was right about you.”
He paused. “Laura? What did she say about me?” Steve had a panicked look in his eyes.
“Ask her yourself,” Charlie snapped. “Please don’t bother me again, Steve, because the next time I’ll be forced to take action and by action I mean a sexual harassment lawsuit.”
He paled. Her words seemed to do the trick. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did.”
“But you did and now there’s no taking it back. Now will you leave me alone?”
“If you preferred Jake, you should have said so in the first place.”
She rolled her eyes. “Somehow I don’t think that would have mattered to you.”
He shot her a resentful look before turning on his heel and stalking away.
Charlie knew it was his vanity which drove him to continuously ask her out. She wasn’t fool enough to think he was actually serious about her. Had she gone out with him the first time he asked, Steve would have lost interest by now. He’d get over it, and if he didn’t that was just too damn bad. When she turned to leave the copy room, Charlie froze. Standing there with a smug expression on her face was Sandy the Mouth.
Jake was pissed. Everywhere he had gone in the building today, knowing looks followed. In the beginning he ignored them, but then curiosity got the better of him so he finally asked Jennifer what was being said around the office.
“Steve has a lot to answer for,” Jake pounded his fist against Jennifer’s desk.
“I wouldn’t mind giving him a good smack myself. I shudder to imagine what he’s done to that poor girl’s reputation.” Jennifer shook her head.
“I know. Steve can be a selfish bastard at times, but I didn’t know he would stoop so low.” Jake sighed. Steve had really gone too far this time and when Jake saw him, friend or not, Steve was going to get what was coming to him.
“You do realize what happened in your office was highly inappropriate,” Jennifer reprimanded lightly.
Jake felt the color drain from his face. “I know, Jen. I’m as much at fault in this whole thing as is Steve.” .He sighed in resignation. “I know how inappropriate it was for me to do what I did, but he had no right to spread what happened all over the damn office. I never thought he’d stoop so low. It wasn’t her fault. I was just…so…” Jake blushed.
“In love?” she guessed accurately.
“Is it that obvious?”
“You should have seen yourself before she came to your office that day. You were more nervous than a deer in a lion’s den. Jake, I have two sons and two daughters, who are all older than you. Don’t you think I would know a little something about this?” Jennifer paused for a moment. “You never did tell me about that scene in the lobby last week.”
Jake figured she’d know soon enough anyway. Why not tell her? Taking a deep breath, he confessed. “That little girl you saw in the lobby was my daughter Kristy.”
“I know.”
He gasped in surprise. “You knew? You never said anything.”
“I didn’t feel it was my place to say anything. I know you think I’m a busybody at times, but I figured you’d tell me about her whenever you were ready. She has your eyes, Jake, how could I not figure it out. Will you talk about it now?” she asked gently.
“It’s a long story, Jen, and one I would rather not get into right now, but Charlie and I met a long time ago and our daughter was the result from that meeting. No one else knows about Kristy other than my family, so I would appreciate you not saying anything around the office. There’s enough gossip going around as it is.”
“You know I won’t, Jake. So what are you going to do about Charlie?”
“I don’t know yet. I have feelings for her, but she doesn’t feel the same.”
“I don’t know about that, Jake. Have you told her how you feel?”
“She has to know. I can’t keep my hands off of her whenever she’s around.”
“All that proves is you want to go to bed with her. Now really, Jake, didn’t your mother teach you better than that? Have you ever sent her flowers?”
“Yes.” As soon as he said it, he blanched. He remembered the graphic message he had sent with the flowers. Was it possible Charlie thought he only wanted her for sex? He slapped his forehead. Perhaps that was why she had been so adverse to his suggestion of spending time with him. He would rectify that notion and soon.
“She is such a fucking loudmouth. If I weren’t in HR, I would tell that bitch exactly what I think of her,” Laura said fiercely.
“Laura, watch your mouth,” Charlie censured, pointing to her daughter who was happily coloring at the coffee table.
“Sorry,” Laura apologized quickly. “Well, I had to come over and let you know what was being said around the office.”
“I appreciate it, Laura, but I kind of knew what would happen when I saw Sandy standing there listening to the whole conversation. The woman is certainly a nuisance but she will get her comeuppance one day. Karma is a son of a gun.”
All day at work she had been the object of whispers and stares. Whenever she came upon a group, they would immediately stop talking. It was embarrassing to be on the end of office gossip, but she only had herself to blame. She should have nipped his flirtation in the bud before it had gotten out of hand.
Now everyone knew about her and Jake, and the rumors were ranging from them making out in the elevators to them being caught in the boardroom having sex. If they only knew, she thought.
“So what are you going to do about it?” Laura asked curiously.
“Ignore it. It will eventually blow over.”
“Girl, you are better than me. If I were you I would kick Sandy’s behind. As it stands, I better not catch her outside of work or else I just might do it,” Laura threatened.
Knowing her hotheaded friend, Charlie didn’t doubt it.
Charlie shrugged. “What would be the point?”
“It would make you feel better.”
“Temporarily maybe, but in the long run it won’t accomplish anything. I just want to forget about the whole thing.”
“Well, it’s going to take a while for something this juicy to blow over. Didn’t I tell you Steve was a piece of shit? Oops. Sorry about the language,” Laura corrected herself. “Revenge seems to be his MO, no matter how misplaced,” she finished bitterly.
Charlie gave her friend an odd look. This wasn’t the first time she had made veiled references about Steve. “He wasn’t intentionally malicious. He just let slip something that wasn’t any of his business, although I felt like strangling him for doing so.”
“If he hadn’t been harassing you in the first place, none of it would have happened.” Even Kristy noted the bitterness in Laura’s tone because she looked up at her with a frown before turning back to her coloring.
“I think you’re biased where he’s concerned.”
“I have every reason to be. I warned you on your first day he was trouble. You should have listened to me.”
“I think if I was firmer in the beginning it would never have come to this.”
Laura narrowed her eyes. “You sound like you’re defending him.”
“I’m not. I’m annoyed as heck with him, but I can’t lay the blame completely at his feet.”
“Oh, but I can.”
Charlie could hold her curiosity in no longer. “What did he do to you to make you hate him so much?” Charlie never mentioned Steve around Laura because it always raised Laura’s hackles but she really wanted to know.
“Let’s just say Steve and I will never be friends and that’s fine with me. What happened between us isn’t worth talking about.” Laura’s jaw set stubbornly.
“So there was an incident?” Charlie persisted.
“Let’s not go there.”
“Why not? I want to know.”
“Okay, I’ll tell you, if you tell me exactly what’s going on with you and Jake. Is the rumor true?” Laura asked.
Charlie was caught in her own trap. She was saved from answering by the doorbell ringing.
“Now who could that be coming to visit around this time of night?” she said, getting up to answer the door.
She opened the door to see Jake’s forlorn face.